already-devastating flooding. and, is taiwan on the itinerary? it s still a mystery as house speaker pelosi leaves for asia. putin makes his move. the kremlin s counter offer to bring brittney griner and paul whelan back home. live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom, with kim brunhuber. we begin with the humanitarian tragedy in the u.s. president biden has issued a major disaster declaration for the state of kentucky, as catastrophic flooding has killed at least 16 people, including six children. and that death toll is expected to rise. the raging waters decimated entire neighborhoods. scores of people are still missing. the kentucky governor andy beshear say it s hard to get a fix on the exact number since cell service is out this many areas, and he added that the state has never seen anything like this. here he is. there are still so many areas we still can t get to. the water hasn t crested in some parts of eastern kentucky. so we can t even get into some ho
and take advantage of our special offer of no payments for eighteen months. hello again, everyone, thank you so much for joining me this saturday. i m fredericka whitfield. rescue operations are under way in eastern kentucky, floodwaters engulfing entire communities following torrential rainfall. there have been deaths from the flooding, including four children. officials say the numbers may rise as many people are missing as of this hour. governor andy beshear saying this earlier today. this is still an emergency situation. we are in search and rescue mode. that count is going to continue to go up. and we don t lose this many people in flooding. this is a real tough one. search and rescue teams are wading through the waters, looking for survivors around the clock. the national guards from kentucky, tennessee, and west virginia air lifting hundreds to safety. so far more than 660 air rescues. roads and bridges have been swept away, cutting off access and complicating th
foreign minister sergey lavrov, urging russia to accept the deal to release americans brittney griner and paul whelan. and tonight, how the white house is responding to a new prisoner swap idea from a russian official. back here at home, pfizer and moderna reformulating their covid vaccines, targeting the highly transmissible omicron subvariants. the biden administration securing millions of doses which could be available in september. what we re learning about when adults under 50 could get their next booster shot. actor will smith breaking his silence, speaking on camera for the first time about slapping chris rock in front of the world on oscar night. there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave. former president trump igniting a new firestorm. 9/11 families protesting his hosting of a saudi-backed tournament at his golf club in bedminster, new jersey, and his claim that, quote, nobody s gotten to the bottom of 9/11. and the mega millions j
from the floods a bit later today. what we know right now hundreds of people have lost their homes, countless businesses destroyed, and rescuers are working to reach those who are still stranded by these high floodwaters. the extreme weather is impacting several states this morning. overnight in las vegas, heavy rains leaving multiple casinos and parts of the famous strip completely under water. we ll have more on that in a moment. we do want to begin with cnn s joe johns who is live in eastern kentucky, joining us with more on that historic flooding there. joe, good morning. reporter: good morning. grim business here in eastern kentucky. i talked to a family just a little while ago who described a heartbreaking situation. in the first place, they live up high, and as you talk to people around here, for many people the difference between losing a house and having a home, the difference between life or death simply had to do with how high up your house sat here in eastern
exchange. secretary of state antony blinken talking to russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, urging them to accept the deal. and how the white house is responding to a new prisoner swap idea from a russian official. back here at home, pfizer and moderna reformlating their covid vaccines, targeting the highly transmissible omicron sub variants. the biden administration securing millions of doses which could be available in september. what we re learning about when adults under 50 could get their next booster shot. actor will smith breaking his silence, speaking on camera for the first time about slapping chris rock on oscar night. there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave. former president trump igniting a new fireme 9/11 families protesting a saudi backed tournament at his golf club in bedminster, and his claim that nobody app gotten to the bottom of 9/11. and the mega millions just hours away. here by $1.3 billion up for grabs. good ev